Yahoo Lifestyle Jamie Lee Curtis moves Hoda Kotb to tears ahead of “Today” exit: 'You have truly changed this place'
"I just can't believe this is the last time I'm going to be here with you," Curtis told an emotional Kotb on Thursday's show.
If Jamie Lee Curtis' goal for the day was to make Hoda Kotb cry, then she certainly accomplished that mission.
The Oscar-winning actress appeared on Thursday's Today to promote her new comedy caper, The Sticky, and upcoming drama, The Last Showgirl, but rather than letting the talk show anchor begin with a question, Curtis immediately turned the spotlight on Kotb.
"Say it ain't so, Hoda," Curtis began, referencing Kotb's recent announcement that she will be leaving the iconic morning talk show. "I can't deal with it. I just can't deal with it. I just can't believe this is the last time I'm going to be here with you."
Curtis, who has been a frequent guest on Today and made her love for Kotb very clear over the years, added that she's conflicted about the news. "I'm a little sad, and yet I love you," Curtis admitted. "I heard you on the phone with your daughters this morning, as I've heard you on the phone every time I come here at 7:22 a.m. — you FaceTime your children. You are an absolute treasure, and we are all going to miss you here."
NBC
Jamie Lee Curtis and Hoda Kotb on 'Today'Kotb has said her decision to leave the show was largely fueled by a desire to spend more time with her kids, 7-year-old Hailey and 5-year-old Hope. Though Curtis explained how happy she is for Kotb, she added, "I can't imagine this place without you. So that's what I needed to say."
By this point, Kotb was wiping away tears as she brought her hands to her chest and Curtis concluded.
"First of all, thank you from the bottom of my heart," said the Today anchor before holding up a letter Curtis wrote to her. "And thank you for the note that you gave me."
Related: Cher drops F-bomb on live TV, surprises Hoda Kotb: 'You said I could'
Curtis revealed that she originally sent the note to Kotb's house in September, when the Today co-anchor first announced her exit. But since it never made it there, she decided to deliver it in person. Kotb then handed it over, encouraging Curtis to read aloud the sweet message written on the envelope. The Everything, Everywhere, All at Once star grew emotional as she did.
"It says, 'Hoda: The long and winding road. Where you go, my hand in yours. Bravo,'" Curtis read.
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Though Kotb was still wiping tears from her eyes, she attempted to reclaim the interview. "Okay, let's talk about you," she said firmly, to which Curtis jokingly protested: "Oh, why? I talk about me all day long. All I do is talk about me!"
Kotb did manage to steer the conversation back on its intended track, getting Curtis to chat about the two projects she recently produced. But by the time the interview ended, Curtis was back to showering her in praise.
"I want to say thank you," she told Kotb. "You have truly changed this place, this house, this group of people that love you. You are going off for all the right reasons, and you're going to take all of us with you. And whatever you do, do know that you have this family with you."
"You are a beautiful human being," she added, "and this show is better for you being on it."
Kotb initially announced her departure during the show's Sept. 26 broadcast and in a letter to theToday staff, which the show later published.
"It was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new," she said at the time. "My broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie."
Kotb will stay at Today through early 2025, but she will remain part of the "NBC family" in an unknown role. Craig Melvin is slated to fill her seat on the morning show couch.
Watch Curtis turn Kotb into a pool of emotions in the video above.
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